British - Living in Japan (Opening a trading account)

[dave77]

Hi All,

I'm very new to investing, but I would like to open up a brokerage account and buy a small amount index funds and selected stocks each month. One of the problems I have come across is actually finding a decent brokerage account that allows me to invest globally. I have heard that Vanguard and Charles Schwab are one of the more trusted ones but due to certain regulations in Japan, I'm not sure if they allow foreigners to open accounts from Japan.

I speak almost fluent Japanese but struggle to read - I looked at Matsui although their trading platform is all in Japanese. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions when opening a trading account from Japan? - I'd just like to start but with all the options of different brokers, it's difficult to make a decision especially given the fact that I'm a resident of Japan with a British citizenship.

Kind regards,

Dave

[RetireJapan]

Hi Dave

Welcome! Few quick things in answer to your question:

I don't know of any brokers in the UK that will deal with non-residents. The robo-advisor Nutmeg is about the only one.
Interactive Brokers is a good fit if you want a non-Japanese broker/English-language interface.
SBI seems to be the best option in Japan, closely followed by Rakuten and Monex, but you'll have to do everything in Japanese (not particularly hard once you figure out which button you need).

If you are not using iDeCo to invest and save on income tax, or NISA to save on taxes on dividends and capital gains, I recommend you check them out.

If you search for any of those on the RetireJapan site there should be at least a blog post or two (or twenty) on each

[Jamo]

SBI all the way. If you can't read Japanese (and even for those who can), I recommend the Chrome plugin Rikaikun. Just put your mouse cursor over the Japanese words and the translation will be shown in a pop-up window. Signing up will be the hardest part, as there's a bit to read and they will send you Japanese documents to fill out. Google Translate's camera function may be useful here, or you can find someone who can read Japanese to give you a hand. Once you've got your account set up it should be relatively smooth sailing.

[dave77]

Hey,

Thank you for much for the replies.
Seems like SBI is the way forward - I have read a little on the NISA accounts but I need to look further into iDeCo also.
Just one quick question about SBI - are you able to purchase Vanguard ETFs with them? I can't find much information on how much access to the market the broker accounts have.

Once again thank you,

Dave

[Jamo]

Yes, there's many Vanguard ETFs available. Also iShares, Schwab, Direxion, etc. I'm not familiar with the market access of other brokers in Japan, but I'm pretty sure SBI is among, if not, the best.

[RetireJapan]

Yes, there's many Vanguard ETFs available. Also iShares, Schwab, Direxion, etc. I'm not familiar with the market access of other brokers in Japan, but I'm pretty sure SBI is among, if not, the best.

The last time I saw numbers SBI had access to the largest number of shares and ETFs.

[Roman Empire]

If you scroll over to the ETF tab on their website, do a search and filter the result by company you will see SBI offers 67 Vanguard ETFs. Hope this helps!

[fools_gold]

Here's a comparison of Monex, SBI, and Rakuten in Japanese.

http://kabushiki-blog.com/article/43364899.html

Monex has the most stocks by a long way and the best trading platform (they use Tradestation). However, SBI and Rakuten allow you to settle in yen and refund the fees for US ETF purchases.

[adamu]

SBI and Rakuten ... refund the fees for US ETF purchases.

This is true, but only inside a NISA. Any other account and they charge as normal.

[dave77]

Thank you all very much for the information this has been very helpful.